170. Karen ArmstrongMuhammad had in fact finally achieved victory by an inge-
nious policy of non-violence; the Quran adamantly opposed
force and coercion in religious matters, and its vision-far
from preaching exclusion and separation-was tolerant and
inclusive. Qutb insisted that the Quranic injunction to tolera-
tion could occur only after the political victory of Islam and
the establishment of a true Muslim state. The new intransi-
gence sprang from the profound fear that is at the core of fun-
damentalist religion. Qutb did not survive. At al-Nasser's
personal insistence, he was executed in 1966.
Every Sunni fundamentalist movement has been influ-
enced by Qutb. Most spectacularly it has inspired Muslims to
assassinate such leaders as Anwar al-Sadat, denounced as a
jahili ruler because of his oppressive policies towards his own
people. The Taliban, who came to power in Afghanistan in
1994, are also affected by his ideology. They are determined
to return to what they see as the original vision of Islam. The
ulama are the leaders of the government; women are veiled
and not permitted to take part in professional life. Only reli-
gious broadcasting is permitted and the Islamic punishments
of stoning and mutilation have been reintroduced. In some
circles of the West, the Taliban are seen as quintessential
Muslims, but their regime violates crucial Islamic precepts.
Most of the Taliban ("students" of the madrasahs) belong to
the Pashtun tribe, and they tend to target non-Pashtuns, who
fight the regime from the north of the country. Such ethnic
chauvinism was forbidden by the Prophet and by the Quran.
Their harsh treatment of minority groups is also opposed to
clear Quranic requirements. The Taliban's discrimination
against women is completely opposed to the practice of the
Prophet and the conduct of the first ummah. The Taliban are
typically fundamentalist, however, in their highly selective
vision of religion (which reflects their narrow education in
some of the madrasahs of Pakistan), which perverts the faith